Rachel Maddow says Trump looks ‘thinner’ after day in court
After being a fly on the courtroom wall on the first day of Donald Trump’s hush money trial, Rachel Maddow remarked that the former president looked “thinner than I’ve seen him in the past” but “significantly older” and “like a man who…”It’s miserable to be here.”
Maddow pulled some strings to be in the Manhattan courtroom where New York state is presenting its election interference case involving hush-money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
“Thank you to everyone at NBC for making it possible for me to get into the courtroom,” Maddow said Monday on MSNBC. “I realize it’s a hot ticket and it’s a privilege to cover something so historic.”
Maddow echoed press reports that the dingy, fluorescent-lit courtroom was an odd context in which to view the former president, who was known for his luxurious comfort.
“Just in terms of the atmosphere in the room, I have to say that what you heard about it being kind of a dingy courtroom is real,” Maddow said. “It’s not necessarily important to the way the wheels of justice grind. It’s impressive to see the former president, someone who tried to embody the luxury brand, sitting in what essentially looks like a high-ceilinged DMV office.”
Maddow recapped some of Monday’s opening arguments, explaining how Trump’s defense presented complex counter-narratives to the prosecution’s simpler “arrangement of the points.”
“(Defense attorney Todd) Blanche actually put forward a whole counterfactual theory: ‘You know, those invoices from Michael Cohen were actually for fees for his legal services, and there was no sexual encounter between Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels. ‘” Maddow continued.
“All of these other kinds of counter-narratives that might explain the evidence for this were, again, not just connecting points – it was a kind of baroque, detailed, elaborate story with a lot of emotion that was expected by the jury,” I think, both with the heart and with the mind. So a much more intellectual, simpler prosecution case.”
From her seat, Maddow described Trump’s demeanor as “sluggish” and “slack-shouldered” and “old, tired and crazy.” She did not perceive him as “particularly lively”, but rather as “annoyed, resigned or even angry”.
“I would say he seems thinner than I’ve seen him in the past,” Maddow said. “He seems significantly older and he seems annoyed, resigned, perhaps angry. He seems like a man who is sorry to be here. I’m not an expert on body language. That’s just my observation.”
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